Not only the wealth, but the independence and security of a country, appear to be materially connected with the prosperity of manufactures. Every nation, with a view to those great objects, ought to endeavor to possess within itself all the essentials of national supply. These comprise the means of subsistence, habitation, clothing and defense.
Nice post.
We gifted China with fifty years or more of technology and patent information over the last twenty years. Who in their right mind could have found that to be in our nation’s best interest, particularly in light of the fact we will be military adversaries sooner rather than later.
You guess right. Hamilton was wrong.
the essentials
meaning the basics, the really vital stuff, not everything
So according to them we should have just sold the Japanese our oil in the 1930s. Heck, why shouldn’t we have just outsourced our shipbuilding to Japan while we were it at?